


Comeback Kid

by JasnNCarly



Category: One Life to Live
Genre: F/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-17
Updated: 2013-05-17
Packaged: 2019-06-13 18:10:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15370377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JasnNCarly/pseuds/JasnNCarly
Summary: Destiny's sacrifice reawakens something in Matthew.





	Comeback Kid

**Comeback Kid**

Matthew was afraid to approach her; he had no right to worry or agonize over her well-being.

After losing it on his parents earlier, cursing out every ‘friend’ he had, Matthew stood outside of her hospital room; leaning against the wall, he tried not to be weighed down by guilt and shame.

Some of the details were fuzzy, but one thing was clear: Destiny was in the hospital because she protected their son. A drunk driver, a busy park, and a mother willing to throw herself in front of car to save her toddler.

Matthew had done nothing right by her; it took this to realize it. Still, there was the bitterness pooling in his stomach, bile bubbling up in his throat.

Their whole relationship was built around the common knowledge she was better than him in every way humanly possible; she stood up when others sat and spoke when others kept their lips shut. She was everything he just couldn’t bring himself to be, from day one.

He checked the empty hall, glanced into the room absence of everything but her still body and heartbeat, before coiling his hand around the handle of the door. 

_“You’re so afraid of being hurt that you won’t even give me a chance. I’m not gonna hurt you, okay? I care about you.”_

His words to her echoed in his ears, each one sealing her fate; everything he truly cared for and touched would only suffer at in his care. 

Drew’s birth made him believe, for a split second, he could change – create a family with the only girl who had been strong enough to stand by him as much as she stood up to him; the urge to run, the urge to be anyone but a Buchanan, to be anything but an adult, eventually won out and drove him to from her – run to friends who could live carelessly and encourage him to do the same.

When the Evans saw him at the hospital, they had every right to wish him another coma – wish him far away from Destiny – to choke him out as Shaun nearly did; however, the Buchanan frontline had shielded him yet again and prevented his experience of the consequence.

It was in that chaotic waiting area that he heard his son crying, held tight within Phylicia’s arms – the grandmother/mother who would kill him if he were to come near Destiny or her grandson again; all things Nora insisted the woman just couldn’t do, only amplifying Matthew’s anger towards himself and their divided families.

_“Matthew, we’re friends. I'd do anything for you.”_

Blowing a shaking breath out with all of his might, Matthew allowed her words to push him over the threshold and into the hospital room.

The image of her plump curved lips lined with a cut, her mocha skin darkened with purple reminders of the cars impact, and her curls peeking from beneath her bandaged head caused him to rush to her side; his heart so broken he let out a loud groan at the pain.

_“I’m here now, and I’ll never leave you.”_

Destiny’s promises continued to weigh him down to the ground, every bit of him sliced into bits at her side; each sacrifice to whoever was listening – please, don’t take her.

Matthew gingerly wrapped his arm around her waist, resting his head carefully against her, as the muscles of his body tensed out and wrenched out loud sobs.

_“I’ll always be your friend, you know that.”_

“I did this to you…” Matthew choked out between cries, raising his head to look upon her angelic features once more, “I never should’ve—you and Drew shouldn’t have been more than a few steps from me…ever. I should’ve fought harder…I should’ve believed you, Des. I should’ve believed in us.”

There was no making up for what he had done, the hurt he caused her or their son; instead, he could only sulk in his ‘what ifs’ and stew in the ‘could have been’.

~*~

When her ebony eyes finally fluttered open, she smiled at the sound of his anxious call.

“Des—Destiny? Are you awake? Can you hear me?” Without waiting her confirmation, he rushed a brief distance away from her and shouted, “Doctor! We need a doctor!”

Swallowing a thick lump in her throat, she moaned at the pain rippling through every inch of her body.

“Hold on, baby, they’re on their way, okay?”

“Jeff?”

“Yeah, it’s me.” His hand gently brushed her cheek as his smile came into her focus, “I’m here. And I’m not going anywhere.”

“Wh—I thought I—“

“Don’t worry, just—stay really still and the—the doctors gonna explain everything, all right?”

Destiny gave into his request, too exhausted to fight anyone or anything. When they had explained her condition, she could only panic for her son and insist upon seeing him.

Jeffrey promised her child would be returned to her the second the doctor checked her out; she trusted him to keep his word.

As the doctor questioned her, looking her injuries over, she saw that her room was cluttered with flowers and chairs which made it looked almost lived in. Then, the flashes came – of the car moving towards drew, the impact and fluorescent lights above her, and a desperate call in the dark…a voice which was familiar yet she couldn’t quite identify.

When the doctor approved her for brief visits, she wondered if she would look scary to her child; that was until Jeffrey returned, a pissed expression strangling his features.

Destiny fussed, “Where is he? Where’s Drew?”

“I couldn’t get one without the other…he insisted.” Stepping aside, he looked over his shoulder and signaled for the guest to enter.

Her heart swelled at the sight of her son in his stroller, until she saw Matthew was the one rolling him into the room. 

Moving to her bedside, her child’s father let out a small smile, “You have no idea how good it is to see you.”

 


End file.
